Posts by Michael Nelson

Re: "anyone" is singular

According to traditional grammar: "his". Similarly, it is generally accepted that the word "mankind" does not just refer to males. A related example is the French word for "they" -- "ils" for men, "elles" for women, or "ils" for a mixed group.

To avoid being "gender-specific", I would say "his or her". To me, that sounds less clumsy than "their", because the grammar is not broken. Some people would choose to say "her". That's also fine, as far as I am concerned.

Many people would say "they" in this context. I don't go around correcting them, and I am sure that it is passing into normal usage. I just find it sounds a little bit wrong.

We had an A5000 in our music department at school with a MIDI interface. It ran Sibelius, which was awesome. My Dad's A5000 has a MIDI interface too. Thinking about it, I should fire that up again and find a use for it!

Yes and no

Depends on the device -- remember, there are MANY Android phones/tablets/thingies...

Protective equipment in Rugby?

'Cup'? Cricket players wear a 'box'. Rugby players don't, unless things have changed in the last few years.

As far as I remember, the only real piece of protective equipment worn by all rugby players is a gum shield, which is VERY important. Forwards sometimes wear head protectors, which are more to stop ears being ripped off then bitten. Vaseline smeared over the ears is also useful.

Hookers sometimes wear shin pads -- which is a good idea when the opposition decides to play dirty when the referee can't see. Also, nowadays rugby shirts are sometimes a little padded, although only to protect the shoulders and collar bone.